The Internet as Social Media - Case Study Example

The Internet as Social Media - Connectivity and Immediacy Contents Internet as a tool for social media 2 Social media applications 2 Effects of social media in business 4 Conclusions 5 References 5 Introduction about social media Social media is now a revolutionary kind of media channel which works differently from other advertising media channels. It helps to generate multidimensional messages from different sources of parties or individuals. This is not only a one way communication channel rather it offers multidimensional conversations across the world. Moreover the development of social media networks has helped in the growth of virtual communities discussing their views and ideologies based on a particular topic. It is found that the emergence of social media has indeed revolutionized the creation, management and distribution of contents along the online sphere. That’s the reason that in present scenario the social media is being assessed through worldwide. And here everyone get freedom to show their opinion and thoughts (Comm, 2010, p.2-3). Internet as a tool for social media The World Wide Web represented the final step of evolution in the world of the internet and it has made internet as a tool for any kind of practical application online. Internet gives a broad platform which is used as a tool through which contents can be published in social media sites. Social media is a web based application which can be accessed through internet only. Internet is known as fast and reliable medium for making approach across the world through which contents and advertisements are posted in the different social media sites. Along with this the social media is playing a vital role in making a constructive relation in between two individuals and strangers on the same platform. Social networking site is actually trying to connect the different organization and different group of people across the globe. Through Social media sites the frequency of interaction and communication activities between the different global communities has indeed gained a lot of pace (Martin. 1997, p.268). Moreover the use of social media sites in commercial activities has also helped in transforming the manner the business companies endeavor to reach the large number of masses for effective marketing of their products. Business companies can also focus on gaining effective feedback from the potential buyers through their social media pages which can be largely incorporated for business development activities in the global market (Sweeney, 2008, p.155-160). Social media applications The emergence of social media has indeed gained a lot of applications both in regards to the public and business sphere. In terms of general or public applications the social media sites can be effectively used by the people to help design blogs, articles, generate a forum for discussion and for generating effective feedback of some global or national news. Moreover the social media networks can also be used by people and organizations to link them up with other people and organizations working on the same background. This process helps in the development of network activity both in the individual and at the organizational level so as to gain hold of a larger area of business and general consumers. Again the social networking applications can be used by the people in creation of alerts on the different web sites and other blogs created by them. In regards to business the social media gains a lot of applications where the business houses can largely promote the brand image of their company across a larger social sphere. Again it helps the business companies in effectively tracking the extent to which the brand image has gained pervasiveness in the enhanced community. The business companies through the help of social media can also gauge the percentage of interest of the people to their websites and social media pages. Thus the profit and non-profit companies can help create larger viewer interest as to their products and services offered and thereby help in generating effective feedbacks (Mathos and Norman, 2012). People like to express their feelings and send messages thorough video to millions of people round the world to help deliver the message in a more effective and authentic fashion. The social media sites can be used by the people for effective posting of video contents based on you tube. Moreover the large storage capacity of the social networking sites also helps in enhancing the large scale storage and discussion of contents by the various users. Thereby any coming user in future can access the message and can get the benefit accruing from such. Connecting the people worldwide through internet and providing immediacy platform to the people to come together at the same floor is thus one of the main reasons for its large scale applications (Al-Deen and Hendricks, 2012, pp.28-29). Effects of social media in business The transaction activities of business, opinion and feedback about the products and services of a company on social media sites have indeed a great impact on business. These activities on a social media site have no boundaries and can get access anywhere across the world. According to Nielson report almost 78 % of people across the world trust their peers’ opinion. So it will not be wrong to say that a social media site governs the business of a company in regards to individual or group feedbacks (Qualman, 2010, p.91). To this a popular example that can be cited is that of “United Breaks guitar”, the heading that has known worldwide through the use of social media. This document shows the incredible power and popularity of social media and impact on a business. According to this video a Canadian musician Mr. Dave Carroll was travelling by a united airways and his $1200 guitar has been broken due to miss handling by the staffs of the airline. When Mr. Carroll has claimed for compensation from the airline authority, no one has shown seriousness for his claim for the guitar and has been delayed by one year approx. On July 6 2009 Carroll has uploaded a music video representing the same incident in on YouTube. Carroll and his friends twitted and share the videos and forwarded through different social media sites to the different authorities by more than 4.6 million times. In result merely within a month of posting of video he got a huge response by the same airline for the compensation of his guitar. He has been offered his $1200 for his guitar and $1200 as flight vouchers. The united authority says sorry for that and also included his video as a case study in the industry. So it shows the viral effect of social media video and impact of it. Social media makes the world vision very transparent to the people. Social media is developing a high tech system to connect with the world with the concept that you will have to be what you are (Hanna, 2010; Carroll, 2009). Conclusions Social media sites are an evolutionary idea which provides the edge cutting tools to get connected with peoples worldwide. It has a bright future in the coming days in regards to the incorporation of spontaneous changes in its operational structures. In near future the advertisements will not be dependent on the mercy of the advertising media agencies rather everyone will be able to advertise their organizational message through these social media sites. The social media sites also help the individuals to get effective new updates on a daily basis that limits their requirement to procure newspapers. Moreover the social networking sites enabled in gadgets like palmtops and smart phones can be effectively used by the people in designing blogs and articles. People will be able to tag on different pages to different concerned persons to share and communicate the information online. Business communities also gain a large amount of networking, social and media support through the creation of pages for their products and services and brands in the social networking sites. Social networking activities can effectively help a business company in gaining in on both market shares and profitability. References Al-Deen, H.S.N. and Handricks,J.A. (2012). Social Media: Usage and Impact. UK: Lexington Books. Carroll, D. (2009) United Breaks Guitars. Music video posted to Youtube. Retrieved March 26, 2012 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YGc4zOqozo&feature=channel Comm, J. (2010). Twitter Power 2.0: How to Dominate Your Market One Tweet at a Time. John Wiley and Sons. Hanna, J. (2010). United Breaks Guitars — HBS Working Knowledge. Retrieved March 26, 2012 from http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/6492.html?wknews=112910 Martin, L.E.M. (1997). The challenge of Internet literacy: the instruction-Web convergence. USA: Routledge. Mathos, M, and Norman, C. (2012). 101 Social Media Tactics for Nonprofits: A Field Guide. New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons. Qualman, E. (2010). Socialnomics: How Social Media Transforms the Way We Live and Do Business. New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons. Sweeney, S. (2008). 101 Ways to Promote Your Real Estate Web Site: Filled with Proven Internet Marketing Tips, Tools, and Techniques to Draw Real Estate Buyers and Sellers to Your Site. Canada: Maximum Press. Read More